In just her fifth pro fight, Olympic bronze medalist “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey ascended to the top of MMA’s most competitive women’s division

Rousey used her signature armbar to submit former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Miesha “Takedown” Tate late in the first round on March 3 at “Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey” in Columbus, Ohio.

A lengthy war of words broke out between Rousey (5-0 MMA, 3-0 SF) and Tate (12-3 MMA, 5-2 SF) in the weeks leading up to the title fight. Some questioned whether Rousey would be able to back up her statements once the cage door closed, but she proved critics wrong by capturing what is arguably the most prestigious women’s championship in MMA today.

Tate opened the title fight with a barrage of punches and looked to overwhelm the challenger early on. Rousey clinched and took down the champion. From side control, Rousey secured an armbar, and Tate appeared to be in all sorts of trouble. She held on and escaped and even managed to take Rousey’s back after a scramble.

The momentum of the fight quickly changed as Tate looked to set up a rear-naked choke from the back. Rousey defended well, and the fighters returned to their feet. Tate was aggressive with punches again, but Rousey took her down into the scarf-hold position. She quickly moved to mount and landed punches that forced Tate to give up her back.

The opportunity was all Rousey needed, and she transitioned to another armbar. Tate refused to submit even when her elbow bent at an awkward angle. Finally, after Rousey readjusted her grip, Tate surrendered her title by tapping out at the 4:27 mark of the first one.

After the fight, Rousey was unapologetic for her actions and pre-fight trash-talking, but she spoke highly of the woman who will likely be first to challenge for her title: former champion Sarah Kaufman. Despite her limited experience, Rousey has become one of MMA’s fastest-rising stars since her August 2010 debut. The 25-year-old has finished all eight of her pro and amateur opponents with armbars, and none of her fights to date has made it out of the first round.

Post-fight replays appeared to indicate that Tate’s arm may have been snapped at the elbow. She has since confirmed that no bones were broken, but ligament damage is a possibility.

Kaufman wins all-Canadian clash on Strikeforce prelims

Mere hours before Tate and Rousey took to the cage for their title fight, former Strikeforce champion Sarah Kaufman (15-1 MMA, 6-1 SF) picked up a hotly contested majority-decision victory over fellow Canadian Alexis Davis (11-5 MMA, 2-1 SF) on the Strikeforce preliminary card. Kaufman won the first two rounds on the strength of her striking and survived a late rally from Davis to take the win in what was believed to be a No. 1 contender’s bout.

Perhaps looking to steal the show, both fighters teed off with power punches as soon as the fight started, and they remained on their feet throughout the opening round. Davis scored with a series of uppercuts in close, but Kaufman fired back with flurries of punches that caused Davis’ face to swell up. A cut opened above Davis’ left eye, but the fight was allowed to continue, and the fighters continued to exchange hard kicks and punches. Davis opened a cut near Kaufman’s hairline with what looked to be a standing elbow in the final minute of the round.

Davis mixed up her strikes with knees and body kicks in the second round. Kaufman retained a boxing-centered strategy and continued to mark up Davis’ face, but Davis landed some nice combinations of her own. In the final round, she took down Kaufman and asserted her ground dominance by keeping the former champion pinned on the mat. Davis landed elbows throughout the round and attempted a pair of armbars, but Kaufman made it to the bell.

Despite a borderline 10-8 third round for Davis, it was not enough to steal back the fight. One judge at cageside scored the bout even at 29-29. The remaining two judges awarded the close contest to Kaufman with scores of 29-28.

Kaufman now is expected to challenge Rousey for the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight championship in the unbeaten judoka’s first title defense, but a target date for the fight has not yet been announced.

Fujino, Hashi, Inoue among winners at “Jewels: 18th Ring”

Former Valkyrie mainstay Emi “Kamikaze Angel” Fujino (11-5) won for the third time in her past four fights at “Jewels: 18th Ring” on March 3 in Tokyo. Fujino out-struck top Jewels star Mika “Future Princess” Nagano (8-7) en route to a unanimous-decision victory in the main event of the all-female fight card.

Fujino was aggressive with punches and knees to the body in the opening round. She later pulled guard with a guillotine choke, but Nagano had little trouble in escaping and passing to the side. Quick one-twos scored for Fujino after the fight returned to the feet, and she continued to batter Nagano with punches as the fight entered round two.

Nagano shot in for takedowns throughout the second round and managed to take down Fujino once, but she could do little on the ground, and Fujino maintained a clear advantage on the feet. All three judges awarded the bout to Fujino after two rounds.

Modafferi threw a series of unorthodox kicks early in the fight, but Hashi took advantage of a missed Superman punch by taking Modafferi to the ground. Hashi worked for a kimura and an armbar before the fighters were stood up. Modafferi rolled for a kneebar late in the round, but Hashi easily escaped and took back control as the bell sounded.

Both fighters put together solid combinations in round two. Hashi tripped Modafferi to the mat and secured a straight armbar from the top. She transitioned to Modafferi’s back and then to mount. A series of punches from Hashi prompted Modafferi to give up her back again and Hashi was nearly able to finish the fight with a rear-naked choke. However, time expired, and the judges unanimously scored the fight for Hashi, who earned a much-needed victory.

Teen prodigy Mizuki Inoue (3-1) returned to Jewels for the first time since a close decision defeat to promotional champion Ayaka Hamasaki in September. The 17-year-old karateka submitted Australian Alexandra Chambers (2-1) with an armbar at the 4:32 mark of round one.

Chambers held her own in the early striking exchanges, but this seemed to do little more than annoy Inoue, and she responded by taking down Chambers. Inoue moved to mount and landed punches to the body before referee Kenichi Serizawa bizarrely stood the fighters up. Undeterred, Inoue closed the distance and landed a series of right hooks before taking down Chambers again. She secured the armbar and, after a moment of fighting it, Chambers tapped out.

Also on the Jewels card, Emi Tomimatsu (5-4) defeated fellow grappler Yuko “Amiba” Oya (6-3) by unanimous decision. In the fifth and final pro MMA bout, Ayame “Iris” Miura (5-0) survived a shaky start and defeated Celine Haga (1-11) by submission (keylock) at the 2:12 mark of round two. Additionally, Satomi Takano defeated Miyuki Irie by submission (guillotine choke) at the 1:05 mark of round one in an amateur bout.

Porto, Faria capture Pink Fight titles in Brazil

One of Brazil’s top female fighters, Vanessa Porto (14-4), added another championship title to her collection this past Saturday at Pink Fight MMA 2 in Rio de Janeiro. Porto knocked out late replacement Luana Teixeira (1-2) in just 41 seconds in the night’s main event. The all-female card featured a total of seven fights.

Porto was originally set to face off with Jennifer Maia in a rematch from October, but Maia withdrew from Saturday’s fight in order to take part in the Cage Warriors women’s tournament that kicks off this week. The quick win over Teixeira earned Porto the vacant Pink Fight title at 60 kilograms (132 pounds), and she hopes to return to competition in North America this year.

In the co-main event, Kalindra Carvalho Faria (4-3-1) claimed the Pink Fight 55-kilogram (121 pounds) title by defeating Aline Serio (2-3) after three hard-fought rounds. Faria has now won three straight fights since a tough 0-3-1 stretch early in her career against opponents that included Porto and another Brazilian star, Carina Damm.

Leading U.K. promotion Cage Warriors is set to crown its first 125-pound women’s champion this year with a four-woman tournament that kicks off this week. In the first of two semifinal bouts, Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff (9-4-1) faces Jennifer Maia (5-1-1). The fight takes place at Cage Warrriors Fight Night 4 in Dubai, U.A.E., and stream live on MMAjunkie.com this Friday.

Gaff is unbeaten since dropping down to 125 pounds this past year. She followed up on an eight-second knockout win over Swedish prospect Hanna Sillen by stopping Irish standout Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly with a barrage of knees and punches in April. All nine of Gaff’s wins have come by knockout or submission.

Maia enters the tournament on short notice, but she already had been preparing for a fight this past weekend. Ring rust should not play a factor for the Brazilian as it may for Gaff. Like her opponent, Maia has secured all five of her pro wins inside the distance. She is coming off a second-round submission victory at the inaugural Pink Fight MMA event in January.

The winner of the Gaff-Maia bout will move on to the tournament final later this year. The second semifinal matchup, which pits the aforementioned Daly against the U.K.’s top female fighter Rosi “The Surgeon” Sexton, takes place at a date to be determined in May.

Zingano vs. Rodriguez completes Invicta FC 1 card

Unbeaten rising star Cat “Alpha” Zingano (6-0) has been added to the all-female Invicta Fighting Championships 1 event on April 28 in Kansas City, Kan. Zingano faces XFL champion Anita “El Tigre” Rodriguez (5-2) in a featured bout on the main card.

Zingano has yet to taste defeat as a professional, and only one of her six bouts has gone the distance. In May, she retained one of her many championship titles by knocking out Takayo Hashi with a third-round powerbomb slam at a Fight To Win event in Colorado. Rodriguez has won five of her past six fights and is coming off of a decision victory in January.

Sunaba managed to keep the fight on the feet throughout much of round one, and both she and her younger opponent landed powerful kicks and punches. Ishioka was able to take down Sunaba early in the second round, and she quickly moved to mount. From there, Ishioka set up an armbar, and Sunaba was forced to submit to the hold at the 1:04 mark of round two.

As is customary in Japan, an in-ring retirement ceremony was staged for the departing Sunaba, who was awarded an honorary Queen of Pancrase title belt for her years of competition in the organization and other leading Japanese promotions. Sunaba was widely seen as one of Japan’s top female strikers throughout her MMA career, which dates back to her May 2002 debut. She also remained active in professional kickboxing from 1999 until her final fight in 2006.

Earlier on the same Pancrase card, 16-year-old grappler Shino VanHoose (3-0) made short work of Kimie “Sakura” Okada (0-6-1). VanHoose scored a takedown early and worked her way into mount. She secured an armbar from the top, and Okada tapped out at the 2:40 mark of round one. VanHoose remains unbeaten since her MMA debut in October.

Quick results

A planned title fight between Carla Esparza and Angela Magana at “MEZ Sports: Pandemonium 6″ on March 3 was cancelled after Magana was injured in a car accident earlier in the day.

Yana “Foxy” Kunitskaya (7-1) defeated Anna Melikhova (0-1) by unanimous decision after two rounds at “Lion’s Fights 1: The Beginning” on March 3 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Kunitskaya has won five straight fights dating back to her lone defeat in May 2010.

Raquel Pennington (1-0) defeated Kim “Sugar Free” Couture (3-7) by TKO (knees to the body) at the 2:25 mark of round two at “Medieval Fight Productions: MMA at The Venue” on March 3 in Casper, Wyo. This bout was Pennington’s pro debut after an impressive 7-1 run as an amateur.

A scheduled matchup between Maiju “Mai” Kujala and Juliana “Thai” Carneiro Lima at “Revolution Fighting Champion 1″ on March 9 was scrapped when Kujala was not cleared to compete during pre-fight medicals.

Darla Harris (2-0) defeated Lisa Jeanson (1-2) by KO (punch) at the 0:05 mark of round three at “The Beatdown 9: Army vs. Marines 3″ on March 10 in Denver, Colo.

Sanja Sucevic (3-1) defeated Lena “Hunter” Ovchynnikova (8-1) by submission (rear-naked choke) at the 2:28 mark of round two at “Super Fight League 1″ on March 11 in Mumbai, India. Both fighters threatened with multiple submission attempts in the first round. Sucevic took advantage of a scramble in round two and secured the choke to hand a dejected Ovchynnikova her first professional defeat.

Final Valkyrie featherweight champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi (9-3-1) faces Katja Kankaanpaa (5-0) at “Botnia Punishment 11″ on March 23 in Seinajoki, Finland. The bout is Yamaguchi’s first fight outside of Japan. She has lost just once in her past eight fights. Kankaanpaa picked up a big win over Karla Benitez on very short notice in October.

MMAjunkie.com publishes the Women’s MMA Report every other Monday. Its author, Robert Sargent, is a veteran MMA journalist who also runs MMARising.com. Feel free to email us at news [AT] mmajunkie.com with any questions, news tips or suggestions.